Street-indicator.



A. LORIG.

STREET INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.28, 1914.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7H5 NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHOTO-LITHQ. wAsnmu ran, 5 a.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTORJVEY.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0,, PHOTO'LITHCL, WASHINGTON r). c.

A. LOR'IGI STREET INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.28, 1914.

Patented Nov. 17. 1914.

3 SHEBTS SHEET 3v I IN ENZ T 0R. dim Lomy ATTORNEK 74 zvllll'lllarllllyillfll ALVIN LORIG, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

STREET-INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NO VL 17, 1914. 7

Application filed February 28, 1914. Serial No. 821,725.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it know'nthat I, ALVIN Lorne, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Indicators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in street indicators; and it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the. drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of an electric trolley car showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on theline 2- ?2' of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is. a front elevation of the indicator with the front wall of the outer casing thereof, removed; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the operating parts of the indicator, the side Wall of the casing being removed and the casing walls being shown in sect1on;.F1g. 5 1s an enlarged vertical transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig.

2; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6-6. of Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the upper enlarged terminal or casing of the hollow staff leading from the roof of the car, the wall thereof being broken away to expose the toothed segment and lever mount ed therein, and parts cooperating therewith; Fig. 8 is a view at right angles to Fig. 7, the wall of the casing being broken away to expose the operating parts; and Figs. 9 and 10 are diagrammatic views illustrating alternate positions of the feed rolls and pinions thereof, relatively to the gear wheel by which the same are actuated, whereby the indicator web is first advanced in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

The present invention is particularly directed to improvements in street indicators for street-cars, and has for its object taprovide an indicator operating independently of, the motive power by which the car is propelled, its principle of operation being purely mechanical, thatis to say, it is ac: tuated by impact of some member on the car with'some stationary member disposed along the route of the car. In this way the ac tion of the indicator becomes positiveand reliable, and when a given cross-street is passed the name of the next succeeding street is exposed to view to the passengers on the car without the necessity of the conductor calling thenamcs of the streets.- It is of special value on dark days and nights when the passenger has difficulty in locating his position, or readingthe names of the street signs, the latter in many cases not being'exposed to view or being entirely missing. The present improvement is eminently serviceable on electric cars propelled through the instrumentalityof a trolley,the devices controlling the operation of the indicator'being distributed on-the'guy-wires or their equivalent, to which the trolley-wire is usually'secured. 4

The advantages of thefinventio'n will be fully apparent from a detailed description thereof, which is as follows: a

Referring to the drawings, C,-represents a portion of a conventional trolley-car, w

the trolley wire, and hthe cross or guy wi re to which the trolley-wire is secured, though 5 in lieu of the wire it anysuitable arm or bracket may be substituted for carrying the trolley-wire, as well understood in the art.

material, and secured in any mechanical manner to the front wall of the car, thatis to say, to the wall directlybehind the motorman, and at a point near the roof of the car so as to be. in plain view of the passengers facing the front of the car. The front wall I of the casing (that is to say, the wall facing the interior of the car) is provided w th an opening or window preferably closed by a glass or equivalent transparent plate or panel 2, through which the reading matter from the othen-and vice versa, depending on v the direction of travel of; the web as presently to be seen. The sp ndles a a" of the respective reels are mounted in the sides of a frame 6 secured in any mechanical manner within the casing or housing1, the spindle of the reel 5 terminating at one end be; tween the frame 6 and the side w-a'll'of the casing, in a, sheave or.spool-7, the diago nally opposite end of the spindle of thelower I661 .5" terminating in a corresponding 80 The indicator comprises a suitablebox or casing 1 made of wood ormetal-or other 7 sheave or spool 7. have passed over them the upper ends of cables m m respectively, the cables passing through the eyes of suitable eye-bolts 8, 8, secured to the rear wall of the casing 1, and thence passing through the tubes 9, 9 de pending from the bottom of the casing, the lower end of each cable carrying a weight 10, which operates freely in its tube 9. As shown to best advantage in Figs. 3 and 6 inclusive, the cables or cords m m wind on, and unwind from, their respective sheave-s on the same side of the sheave, the web 3 on the other hand winding on and unwinding from, one reel (5, 5') on the side oppo Site to that on which it unwinds from and winds on the opposite reel (Fig. 5). The weights 10, 10, thus impose the necessary pull on the cablesmm to cause the latter to exert a rotative action on the sheaves 7, 7 and tend to turn them in the same direction. In this way the web between the reels is always kept taut; and as one reel (5) winds the web it unwinds its cable (m), the other reel unwinding the web but inding its cable (m), and vice versa, so that as the weight suspended from the cable on drops, the weight on the cable m is raised, and as the latter weight drops that on the cable m is raised.

in the present embodiment of my invention I make provision for advancing the web 8 (on which the streets reached by the car are marked) by mechanism actuated by devices positioned outside the car, these being in the shape oftappets or equivalent devices distributed along the route and preferably secured to the guy-wires or supporting brackets carrying the trolley wire, as will presently more fully appear. Mounted on the side of the frame 6 opposite the lower reel 5 is a gear-wl eel. 11 to the outer face of which is secured a ratchet wheel 12. About the axial stud 13 of said ratchet is loosely coupled one end of a lever 14- oscil lating in a vertical plane and provided with a spring-controlled pawl 15 engaging the ratchet disk 12, the lever being normally held down to its lowest position (Fig. l) by a coiled spring 16 whose one end is secured to the free end of the lever, the opposite end of the spring being secured to an eye-bolt or ring 17 at the bottom of the casing 1. An arm 18 provided with an off-set 19 extends forward as a part of the frame 6, the face of the off-set having secured thereto a spring-controlled check-pawl 15 which arrests the ratchet 12 against accidental rotation in the wrong direction.

It will be seen from the foregoing that with each elevation or upward oscillation of the lever ll, the pawl 15 will rotate the ratchet 12 and gear wheel 11 in a given direction, the check-pawl l5 preventing ac cidental rotation of said members in the re The said sheaves 7, 7 1.

verse direction. With each rotation of the gear wheel 11 the web 3 is advanced the necessary direction to expose a new name through the window 2 of the casing 1. The means for advancing the web is as follows: Mounted across the frame 6 between the reels 5, 5 is a rock-frame 20, there being mounted in the frame on each side of the axis of rotation thereof the web advancing rolls or rollers R, R terminating at one end in pinions 21, 21 respectively, the spindles s s of the pinions straddling the adjacent vertical side member of the frame 6, (said member being provided with recesses r opposite the spindles to allow for plenty of room between the spindles and said frame member, (Fig. 3). The frame 20 may be rocked to cause either the pinion 21, or pinion 21 to engage with the gear-wheel 11, in which event the companion pinion will be disengaged (Figs. 9, 10). The roll of the pinion temporarily engaging the gear wheel may be termed the drive or driving roll, the companion roll being the driven roll. These rolls are juxtaposed and grip the web 3 passing between them thereby advancing the web when rotation is imparted to the driving or drive roll. Thus, (Fig. 9) when the pinion 21 is in mesh with the gear wheel 11, the web 3 will be advanced upwardly; and when the pinion 21 (Fig. 10) is in mesh, the web will be advanced downwardly, the direction of advance depending in which direction the car is traveling. To rock the frame 20 the following provision is made: Mounted rotatably in the side wall of the casing l opposite the end of the rock-frame carrying the pinions 21, 21 is a crank-disk 22, (or its equivalent) which may be actuated from the outside of the casing by a key K whose socketis passed over a polygonal stem or arbor of the crank-disk, the in nor face of the disk having pivotally coupled thereto through the medium of a pin 24L, one end of a link 25, whose opposite end is pivotally secured to the adjacent arm of a substantially horizontal lever 26 pivoted to the frame 6, the opposite arm of said lever terminating in a fork t which receives the pin 27 carried at the upper end of a second link 28, the lower end of said last link pivotally coupling to the side of the adjacent terminal of the rock-frame 20. The link 28 (or rather the pin 27 thereof) is maintained in engagement with the forked terminal of the lever 26 by the pressure of a flexed spring 29 bearing against the link 28, the fixed end of said spring being secured to the frame 6. The links 25, and 28, and lever 26 form as it were, three members or sides of a parallelogram, the adjacent end of the rock-frame 2O constituting the fourth memher. It is apparent that by turning the disk 22 in one direction a down pull will be exerted on the link 25 (see dotted position of til-new the links in Fig. 5) whereby an updraft will be exerted on the link 28, causing the rockframe 20 to be tilted in proper direction to bring the pinion 21 into mesh with the gear 11, (F ig. 10). A rotation of the disk 22 in the opposite direction (Fig. 5) will rock the frame 20 in the opposite direction thus bringing the pinion 21 into mesh with the gear 11 (Fig. 9). The fork t at the end of the lever 26 is a mechanical expedient making it possible to quickly connect or disconnect the link 28 and I do not wish to be restricted to this particular detail.

To raise the arm 14 for purposes of imparting periodic advances to the web, I pro vide the guy-wires h (or their equivalents) at proper intervals with tappets or depending bent arms 30. From the top of the easing 1 there leads through the roof of the car a rigid hollow staff 31 whose upper end terminates in an enlargement or casing 31 open on top. Between opposing walls of said casing 31 is mounted a pinion 32 whose shaft or stud supports a sheave or grooved pulley 33, a winding cable 71, leading from said sheave through the staff 31 and connected at the bottom to the free end of the arm 14. Mounted in the casing 31 above the pinion 32 is a. toothed segment 34 (limited in its rotation in one direction by..a pin 35 striking a finger 36 on said segment), said segment being provided with an upwardly extending arm 37 in the path of whose, travel the tappets 30 are disposed. The arm 37 normally inclines toward a tappet, and when the latter strikes the arm 37 (during, the travel of the car), the arm is swung rearwardly (see dotted position Fig. 7) thereby imparting rotation to the segment 3% in proper direction to rotate the pinion 32v and sheave 33 in pro-per direction to pull on the cable or cord n and raise the lever arm 14L. After the arm 37 passes 03 the tappet 30, theparts are restored to normal position under the action of the spring 16. Thus with every impact of the arm 37 with a tappet, the web 3 is advanced to expose fresh reading matter through the window 2.

The operation will be readily understood from the foregoing, and is substantially as follows: Assuming that the car C is traveling in a given direction along the line or route traversed thereby, and that the rock frame 20 is rocked to the position indicated in Figs. 5 and 9. Under the circumstances the pinion 21 is in mesh with gear wheel 11, and when the arm 37 impinges against any tappet 30, the segment 34 will be rotated to impart rotation to the pinion 32 and thus rotate the sheave 33, whereupon a pull will be exerted on the cable a and the arm 14 raised sutficiently to turn the gear-wheel 11 through a given arc and thereby impart rotation to the driving roll R, the latter in turn imparting rotation to the cooperating roll R and the web 3 will be advanced upwardly. The names of the streets, Park, Benton, Missouri, and so on will thus be successively exposedthrough the window 2, the web portions between the reels 5, 5 rolls R, B being kept taut by the weights 10 which are .connected to the cables m m, passing over the/spools 7, '7 of the spindles a a of the respective reels, the weight coupled to the cable on dropping, while the weight coupled to the cable m rises. When the car. is ready to return or travel in the opposite direction, the conductor or motorman by means of the key K, rocks the frame 20 in the opposite direction (Fig. 10, and dotted position in Fig. whereupon the pinion 21 is brought in mesh with the gear wheel 11, and the web is advanced clownwardly or in the. opposite direction, thereby exposing the names of the streets in the reverse order, the names Missouri, Benton, Park, Rutger, Hickory, and so on appearing through the window 2, as clearly obvious from the drawings. In such reverse travel of the web, the weight 10 attached to the cable m is raised, while the weight 10 attached to the cable m is lowered, the pull of the weights on the spindles of the respective reels always maintaining the web taut between the reels and the rolls R, R. Of course the, peripheral travelof the sheaves o-r spools 7, 7 is slight so that the weights do not ever touch the floor of'the can. The distance of travel of the weights may always be regulated by properly proportioning the diameters of the sheaves (7, 7) to the number of full rotations necessary to be imparted to the reels to expose the names of all the streets on the web 3, Obviously, the web may contain other reading matter besides the names of the streets. It is apparent of course that as the segment arm 37 slips off any tappet 30, the parts will be returned to normal position under the action of the spring 16, the segment being arrested by the pin 35 striking the finger 36 of the seg ment 34:.

Features shown but not alluded to are well known in the art, and are not described in the present connection. Obviously, the tappets 30 are distributed along the route where necessary to cause an advance in the -web 3. The invention is not necessariy re-' stricted in its application to trolley propelled cars. r 7

Having described my invention, what I claim is: p

1. In a device of the character described, a pair of reels spaced apart, a web connecting the reels, a pair of gripping rolls for advancing the web from one reel to the other, a rocker-frame carrying said rolls, and a rotatable member adapted to be engaged by, first one roll and then the other according to the position of the rockerand the frame aforesaid, and thereby cause an advance of the web first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

2. In a device of the character described, a pair of juxtaposed rolls, a common adjustable support for the same, a web confined between the rolls, reels disposed on opposite sides of the rolls from one of which the web unwinds and over the other of which it winds, means cooperating with the reels for maintaining taut the sections of the web between the rolls and respective reels, a rotatable member, and means for actuating said support and effecting engagement alternately between one of the rolls and then the other, and said rotatable memher.

3. In a device of the character described, a pair of juxtaposed rolls, a common adjustable support for the same, a web confined between the rolls, reels disposed on opposite sides of the rolls from one of which the web unwinds and over the other of which it winds, a rotatable member adapted to revolve in a fixed direction, and means for actuating said support and effecting alternate engagement between said. member and one of the rolls, and then the other, whereby the web is advanced first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

l. In a device of the character described, a pair of juxtaposed rolls, a common adjustable support for the same, a web c0nfined between the rolls, reels for receiving the portions of the web on opposite sides of the rolls, spindles for said reels, winding cords leading from the spindles, weights secured to said cords, means for guiding said weights, a rotatable member adapted to revolve in a fixed direction, and means for actuating said support and effecting alternate engagements between said member and one of the rolls and then the other, whereby the web is maintained taut and advanced first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

In a device of the character described, a suitable rock-frame, a pair of juxtaposed. rolls mounted on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of said frame, pinions at adjacent ends of the rolls and spaced apart, a gear wheel adapted to alternately engage the pinions according to the direction in which the frame is rocked, reels on opposite sides of the rock-frame, a web passed be tween the rolls and winding on, and unwinding from the respective reels, means for maintaining taut the portions of the web between the rolls and the respective reels, a member for imparting periodic advances to the gear wheel, and means for imparting a rocking motion to the rock frame.

6. In a device of the character described, a suitable rock-frame, a key-operated rotatable member mounted opposite one end of said frame, an oscillating lever mounted to one side of said frame, a link having its ends coupled respectively to one arm of said lever and to the rotatable member at a point removed from the axis of rotation of said member, a second link having one end detachably coupled to the opposite arm of said lever and to the rock-frame on one side of the axis of rotation of said frame, rollers in juxtaposed relation mounted on the frame on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of said frame, reels on opposite sides of the frame, a web passed between the rollers and winding over one and unwinding from the other of said reels, pinions at one of the adjacent terminals of the rollers, a gear-wheel, means for periodically i1n parting rotation to the gear-wheel, one of the aforesaid pinions being brought into engagement with said gear-wheel depending on the direction in which the key-operated member is rotated and on the direc tion in which the rock-frame is rocked, and means for maintaining the portions of the web between the rollers and reels taut, as set forth.

In an apparatus of the character described, a pair of reels spaced apart, a web passing over the same from opposite directions, a pair of advancing rolls positioned between the reels and engaging the web from opposite sides, a rock-frame for supporting said rolls, pinions terminating said rolls, a gear-wheel meshing with one orthe other of id pinions depending on the direction of rotation imparted to the rockframe, and a pawl-lever for imparting periodic advances to the gear wheel.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ALVIN LORIG.

lVitnesses:

EMiL S'rAnnK, Josnrn A. MICHEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

